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| Chinua Achebe |
Novelist and intellectual giant Chinua Achebe passed away March 22, 2013. He was not afraid to speak truth to power. He was not afraid to heap scorn on the corrupt politicians of his home country, Nigeria. He was not afraid to chide, and challenge, younger generations for not working hard enough to effect change in Nigeria. His five works of fiction are: Things Fall Apart, Arrow of God, No Longer at Ease, A Man of the People, and Anthills of the Savannah. Lists of speeches and other writings can be found here.
Nelson Mandela is ailing. Nelson Mandela as a man and as an historical figure has no equal. Born in South Africa, he has spent his life working to rid that country of the system of apartheid, a system designed to keep Blacks and Coloureds, and anyone else The Nationalist Party deemed a threat, out of mainstream life. A system designed to give Whites maximum success and access to the bounty of that beautiful country.
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| Nelson Mandela |
A system that ultimately crippled the hearts and souls of all the people who lived within its virtual and actual prisons. A system that finally imploded and the people were led out of the quagmire with the steady hand of Nelson Mandela. Read Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom.
Several other books worth reading are: A History of South Africa by Leonard Thompson; Frontiers: The Epic of South Africa’s Creation and the Tragedy of the Xhosa People by Noel Mostert; Reporting South Africa by Rich Mkhondo; Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga; An Act of Terror by Andre Brink.
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| Zapiro via AFRICartoons |
These titles are all linked to Amazon via BlackPast.org